Fractured | The Portal Series book 1

Chapter 39 - Claire

8:44 p.m. BTS – 9/13/341 U.M.

5:44 a.m. SWT – 9/14/341 U.M.

"Claire, what happened?" Mom gasps as Dad sets me down in the empty seat next to her. Aussi sits on the floor in front of me.

"Wonderful heroics," I say, loud enough for everyone else to hear. But then, I admit in a slightly quieter tone, "Or, it may have just been the clutter in my closet."

A couple of people chuckle, and the tension eases.

I lean against my mom.

"What exactly happened to your eye?" she asks.

"I was in my room, trying to get this," I hold up the strap of the gray bag, "I opened my closet door—I just wasn't thinking—and then everything fell out at me. Figures. Survive a fall to the ocean floor without a scratch and then get bombarded by the contents of a closet."

I grimace.

"At least you're all right," Mom tells me, enveloping me in a tight hug.

"Where are we going?" I ask, chancing a glance forward, past Soria. A school of fish swims past the front window. To me, only having a few windows isn't as strange, since I have been to Earth, but the rest of the sub's occupants look close to panic.

Except for Jaksn, who is sitting across the aisle from me. I am shocked to see him, after all this time. He is sitting hunched over, but doesn't look afraid. His face is simply blank. Then he glances at me, and suddenly the cut over my right eye hits me with a sting.

"One of the other cities," Soria replies.

"No," I gasp, clutching at my eye, which is now throbbing in pain.

"Why the hell not?" Roland asks, looking at me with confusion.

"She knows where to go, I can tell," Jaksn says quietly, his eyes locked on his hands in his lap.

"Where is that, Claire?" Uncle Bill asks from behind me.

I think, and think. I know that there is somewhere that we need to go, but it is most definitely not another city. I rack my brain for a reason, and all the sudden it becomes clear.

"The subs will never make it to another city," I tell them, gritting my teeth against the pain, "Even with repairs. They're too old. We need somewhere closer."

"Like where?" Soria asks, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. She has turned in her seat to face us, leaving the ancient controls alone for a minute. "Fichtu is the closest place."

"That's a city," I remind her.

"But there's nothing else... except...." Realization dawns on her flawless features. "Claire... no...."

"Sub 12 to 8, where are we headed? Over."

All eyes are drawn to the comm, which now is silent after a burst of static.

"Claire, we can't," Soria pleads, "Let's just try to get to Fichtu."

"What in the world are you talking about, Soria?" her mother shouts up the aisle.

Soria bites her lip and closes her eyes, no doubt weighing the odds. Finally, she takes a deep breath and activates the link.

"Sub 8 to all other subs," she says clearly, "Rendezvous at these coordinates. From there, follow us. Over." She types in said coordinates, and sends them to the other subs' computers.